Sole-marking machine.



No. 893,901. 4 PATENTED JULY 21, 1 908.

P. J. BURKE. sou: MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILEDOO'I'. 22' 1906.

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No. 893,901. a

F. J.-' BURKE.

SOLE MARKING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOH rum: 001222. 1906.

.3 I Q fi q o o o o Witnmeo PATENTED JULY 21, 1908.

3 SHEETS-JEEP! 8.

awn ant FRANK .T. BURKE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

SOLE-MARKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Application filed October 22, 1906. Serial No. 339,919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. BURKE, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sole-Marking Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to improvements in numbering machines, and more especially to the type for stamping or embossmg in the soles of shoes, characters for designating their sizes and widths, and the object of this invention is to provide a machine of this kind having sets of marking dies so arranged and adjustable in combinations-as to facilitate the numbering of soles of varying sizes and widths, the dies and cooperating parts being readily adjustable and convenlently accessible so as to facilitate the marking operation.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sole marking machine constructed in accordance with my present invention. Fig. 2 shows a ortion of the machine, the front or cover pl removed, and the cooperating portion of the table or platen being shown in section. Fig. 3 represents a transverse section of the die carrier and the 0.06 crating portion of the table or platen on t e line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows a portion of the die carrier and the adjustable dies thereon. Fig. 5 is a view looking at the under side of the die carrier, showing the cooperative relation of the stationary and adjustable dies. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portion of the table or platen, showing the index characters corresponding to the sets of dies, and Fig. 7 shows the machine adapted to be driven by power.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate similar parts.

Numbering machines constructed in accordance with my present invention are especially adapted for stamping or embossing the soles of shoes and the like with appropriate designating characters, the machine 1n ate of the die carrier beingthe present embodiment of the invention being especially adapted to applying at a single operation, characters for designating the length and width of each sole to facilitate the subsequent handling thereof during manufacture, and this is accomplished with a minimum number of dies so that the machine will not be expensive to make and as a stationary die is provided for each length designating character, and an adjustable die for marking the width is arranged to cooperate therewith, the soles or articles to be marked may be readily placed under the appropriate die and each sole marked with the proper characters designating the length and width thereof at a single operation of the dies.

The present embodiment of my invention comprises generally, a table or bed 1 mounted on legs or other suitable means of support 2, the surface of the table being adapted to serve as a support for the soles or articles to be marked, and as a platen to sustain the pressure produced thereon by the dies. printing or embossing dies are mounted in cooperative relation with this table, and in The the present instance they are mounted on a connected to a pair of verticallyreciprocatory guide rods 4, the latter operating through bearings 5 formed in the table, and similar bearings 6 below the table to insure reciprocatory movement of the die carrier in a given plane transverse of the table surface. The guide rods are connected bya cross-bar 7, and in cases where foot power is employed, as shown in Fig. 1, this cross-bar is connected at an intermediate point to an operating rod 8, the latter in turn being connected to a cross-bar 9 on a treadle 10, and the latter is pivotally supported on the machine by the pivot bar 11 extending between the legs of the table. The treadle is so connected to the die carrier that the latter will be drawn toward the table or into printing position as the treadle is depressed, and in order to return the dies and the treadle to normal position, a

spring 12 is preferably provided between the cross-bar and a relatively stationary portion of the machine.

The die carrier in the present form of the invention is provided with a set of stationary or relatively fixed dies suitably spaced and corresponding to the different numbers or lengths of the shoes, and mounted in 006perative relation with each numeraldie is an adjustable letter die having a set of characters thereon corresponding to all the shoe widths, the adjustment of the letter die enabling the latter to be set with its various characters in cooperative relation with the 5, numeral die, and thus a single numeral die, and a cooperating adjustable letter die will serve to mark soles of all widths for each length, and as it is unnecessary to adjust the numeral die, operation of the machine is fa cilitated.

The die carrier in the present instance em bodies a beam having a body portion 14, the lower edge of which extends in a plane parallel to the surface of the table, and into this edge-of the beam are fitted the stationary numeral dies 15 which serve to mark the lengths of the shoe sizes, a die being provided for each shoe length, and each having a stem 16 fitting into a recess in the beam and held from displacement by a transversely-extending pin 17, the printing or impression surfaces of these dies being arranged opposite to the surface of the table. On the table surface directly opposite to each of these stationary numeral dies is preferably provided an index character 18 so placed as to enable the o erator of the machine to readily locate the dies for the different numbers, these index characters in the present instance being provided on the surface of a disk and the latter embedded flush with the surface of the table.

A set of letter or width designating dies is mounted adjustably in cooperative relation 5 with each relatively fixed numeral die, and each set of dies, in the present instance, is

' mounted on a rotatable disk 19 arranged at one side of the body portion 14 of the beam, dies 20 being equidistantly spaced on the circumference of the disk and secured thereto by the transversely-extending pins 21 projecting through the reduced portions 22 5 thereof, the impression surfaces of these dies being arranged to cooperate successively with the stationary numeral die 15. Each die-carrying disk 19 is fixed to a shaft 23, the latter being journaled in the body portion of the beam, and the forward end of each shaft is provided with a pinion 24, the pinions of the several dies being arranged in line and adapted to cooperate with the teeth 25 on one side of a rack-bar 26, the latter being arranged to cooperate with the guides 27 in the beam which serve to hold it in cooperative relation with the pinions on the dies. Recip rocation of this rack will effect simultaneous adjustment of all the letter or width designating dies of the series, and in the resent instance, a hand wheel 28 is employe which 0 is preferably arranged on the front and near the center of the die carrier and is supported on a horizontally extending shaft 29, the latter having a pinion 3O fixed thereon and arranged to cooperate with a rack 31 ro- 5 vided on the upper side of the rack, an by rotating the hand wheel a corresponding rotation of the adjustable dies is effected that will serve to move the different dies successively into cooperative relation with the stationary dies. 7

In order to avoid the necessity of examining the adjustable dies to insure their proper adjustment, the hand wheel in the present instance is provided with a dial 32 having characters thereon corresponding to those on the adjustable dies, and the indicator or pointer 33 cooperating with this dial serves to designate which characters of the series are in printing position. It is also preferable to employ a device for retaining the adjustable dies in printing position and prevent their accidental displacement during the printing operation, and the device employed in the present instance for this purpose embodies a plunger or detent 34 mounted to reciprocate in the beam and having a spring 35 for yieldingly pressing it into the recesses 36 formed in the hand wheel, the said re cesses being so spaced that they will register if and cooperate with the plunger when each die of the set is in printing position, and this device also serves to insure the proper centering of the adjustable dies in the different printing positions. M

The shoe soles or other articles to be stamped or marked are placed either singly or in stacks 011 the surface of the table beneath the dies corresponding to the number of the soles, and the desired letter or width designating die is brought into printing position by manipulation of the hand wheel, while the de sired impression is produced on each sole by depression of the treadle. Should it be necessary or desirable to mark the number of the sole and omit the letter or width-designating characters, this may be accomplished by set ting the hand wheel, and consequently the adjustable dies, in a position intermediate of two printing positions, and in this way the numeral die will stamp its number and the letter or width-designating dies will clear the material.

The machine may be readily adapted for power drive of various forms, the devices shown in Fig. 7 being substituted in place of 5 the treadle or foot power mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and embodying a power shaft 37 having an eccentric 38 having a throw sufficient to effect the requisite movement of the dies, the eccentric being attached to an 20 operating rod 39 resting in a guide 40 on the cross-bar 7, a collar 41 being provided on this operating rod at one side of the cross-bar for lifting or returning the dies to normal position, and a yielding pressure member em- 25 bodying a helical spring 42 in the present instance, being interposed between the collar 43 on the operating rod and the cross-bar and serving to move the dies into engage-' ment with the material to be stamped, with the requisite pressure, and this yielding pressure-member serves to compensate for the differences in the thickness of the work or the varying heights of the stacks of soles being operated on. The power shaft may be driven continuously or intermittently by any suitable means, such as a clutch, or the tight and loose pulleys 44 and 45 on the driving shaft 46, the gearing 47 connecting the latter with the power shaft being appropriately proportioned according to the speed of operation of the dies.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a table or support, and a die carrier, movable relatively to one another, of a series of progressively-arranged marking dies mounted on the die carrier, and a corresponding series of adjustable dies adapted to be set in different combinations with the series of dies first mentioned, and means for effecting relative movement of said table and die carrier.

2. In a sole marking machine, the combination with a support adapted to support the soles in marking position, and a die carrier, movable relatively to one another, of a series of progressively-arranged numeral dies mounted on the die carrier adapted to markin the sizes of the soles, and a set of adjustab le letter or width designating dies for each numeral die of said series and adapted to be set in cooperative relation with said numeral die, and means for effecting relative movement of the table and die carrier to impress the dies on the soles.

3. The combination with a suitable table or support adapted to serve as a platen, and a die carrier, movable relatively thereto, of a series of progressively-arranged dies mounted on the d1e carrier, and a corresponding series of adjustable dies arranged to cooperate with the dies of the series first mentioned, and a device for centering all of said dies in different printing positions.

4. The combination with a suitable table adapted to serve as a platen, and a die carrier arranged above the table and movable relatively thereto, of a series of marking dies mounted on the die carrier, and an index formed of characters corresponding to those of the dies and comprising disks embedded in the table opposite to their respective dies With their upper faces flush with the upper face of the table.

5. The combination with a suitable table or support, and a die carrier, movable in relation to one another, of a series of sets of revoluble dies mounted on the die carrier and adapted to cooperate with the material to be marked on the table, a pinion operatively connected to each set of dies, a reciprocatory rack guided on the die carrier and cooperating with the pinions of the series of dies, an adjusting device and a pinion on said adjusting device cooperating with the rack for effecting simultaneous adjustment of the dies.

FRANK J. BURKE.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE A. BATEMAN, FLORENCE E. FRANoK. 

